Dark Premonitions
by Caroline L'Amoure
Summary: Anastasia was a painter in a small town, trying to get by with her dream of becoming a famous artist. Her paintings were her dreams, premonitions of the future. Jonathon was a Carpathian who had seem more than his fair share in centuries filled with war.
1. Chapter 1: The Meeting

-1Anastasia's eyes darted across her painting, looking for any missed details. For her, perfection in her art was a necessity. Every brush stroke had to be the right density and shade. Each line had to be perfectly aligned and angled. Each detail was a fragment to a much larger picture, so getting the fragments correct was the first step to creating a masterpiece. She sighed in the rare satisfaction that she experienced only when she had completed a painting. She put the canvas into the frame she had prepared for it and looked it over again.  
A dark night sky overshadowed the small lake outside a house's window. A woman sat in the house, looking out the window wistfully, the moon shining down on the water. The water was rippling slightly outwards from a male figure stepping into the water carefully, coming towards the window. The trees shook from the wind that ran through them, blowing dark green leaves into the wind carelessly. She had always loved painting she visions from her dreams. They were always so vividly realistic, it was like watching a movie. She set the painting in it's silver frame, the swirls of metal setting off the beautiful glow of the moon over the scene. She set the finished painting against the wall again and looked up when a knick sounded from her door. She opened it to see a man with blond hair and bright blue eyes smiling at her warmly, holding a large Tupperware dish in his hand.  
"Brought you dinner. I figured that you didn't make any for yourself since you've been so busy with your work lately." He grinned wryly, spotting the splotches of black and blue paint on her face, arms and hands.  
"Thanks Stephan. Come on in, don't mind the mess." She said casually, moving aside to let him walk in. Paint tubes littered a large table, stacks of newspapers serving as a replacement for the bottom of a leg of the table. Paintings lined the walls, tape holding up ideas and sketches soon to be brought to life randomly places around the room on every surface not already covered. The room looked like it had a wallpaper of her imagination, paintings coming in an array of styles from imitation Egyptian on papyrus to macabre paintings of dark hues and tones. Stephan moved a dish of old food from the seat and sat down in a chair in the living room, which wasn't so plastered with paintings as the dining room had been.  
"You know, you should probably clean this place at some point." He said sarcastically, looking at her as she took the dish from him and opened it curiously.  
"Mm, spaghetti. You didn't have to do this you know." Anastasia looked at Stephan thankfully, who shrugged innocently. He looked over at her newly finished painting and back to her with raised eyebrows.  
"Still having that dream again?" He asked, motioning his head toward the paintings surrounding them, some of which had the same theme: dark scenes with a moon shining down on the forest outside her small house, the lake's waters lit by the rays, a man in the waters or else in the forest, but always moving toward the house.  
"Yeah, the same dream repeating. But I don't know what to make of this one. It's different. The feeling I get after the dream ends is like someone's calling for me to come to them."  
Stephan looked up at her in concern and noticed that her eyes were unfocused as if she was thinking of something far away.  
"Anastasia?" He asked, trying to bring her back to reality. She looked at him in surprise as if she had forgotten he was there. He put his hand on his forehead forlornly and looked at her in worry. "Just watch yourself, alright?" He said in concern, turning annoyed when she rolled her eyes and scoffed at him.  
"Honestly Stephan, you worry way too much. I can take care of myself you know." Anastasia teased, eating her spaghetti carefully.  
"Yeah I know, but sometimes you're just not careful enough for your own good."  
"Alright, alright, I'll be more careful, alright?" Anastasia sighed in exasperation and smiled teasingly to him. "I just have one of those funny feelings that something exciting is going to happen soon."

Jonathon looked up at the paintings in front of him. He had always liked looking at the art pieces in here, never knowing why he was drawn to this building so much. He looked up at the painting in front of him, it's bright colors dull and gray to his ancient eyes. He was a Carpathian, and ancient species as old as time itself, able to control weather and nature at will. But as the centuries had passed from his curse of immortality, the world had grown bleak and colors had faded from him. It was a curse of the Carpathian males, that until they found their lifemate, the woman they are destined to be with for the rest of their life, the world remains dark and dull. There was a much worse fate than death for those males who gave up to the beast inside of them before they found their match. They turned into the undead, a vampire, only able to feel emotions when killing. He shivered at the memory of his childhood friend 'turning' before he had reached 500 but Jonathon had always known him to be weak. He glanced around the building as he went inside, the men, women and children around him like walking wax dolls to his view. None of them really mattered to him, as no human had mattered for nearly seven centuries now. A crowd was gathered around one of the newer paintings in the gallery, a featured local artist who apparently was very popular. He maneuvered his way through the crowd to look at this painting and had to take a step back in shock when he saw it. Vibrant colors of blues, greens and silver poured into his eyes from the painting, nearly blinding him temporarily. He closed his eyes to shield them from the vibrant colors and opened them to see if he had only been hallucinating. When he opened his eyes again the same color flooded his senses, making him clench his teeth in pain. After so long of his bleak existence, this sudden onslaught of color was shocking to his body. When he was finally able to look at the painting without flinching, he widened his eyes in shock. In the painting was a woman looking out of the window toward the moon, her long brown hair tumbling down her shoulders like a curtain of silk, her blue eyes bright and full of wonder. A dark figure walked through the water of the lake outside her window, presumably have coming out of the forest clearing behind him. He looked at the name of the artist and closed his eyes a strange flood of warmth rushed through him. It had to be her, there was no doubt in his mind. He walked out of the gallery slightly stiffly and walked into the corner of the building, melding into the shadows. He closed his eyes and separated his spirit from his body, searching for where she might be. He flew through the air as a spirit, and finally spotted her house in the middle of a forest, near a lake. He saw her near the water, sketching a picture of a few birds swimming in the waters. He gasped in surprise as the world around him flooded with color, the trees below him different shades of green, the sky above him turning from gray to a blindingly bright blue. He lost control of his thoughts and tumbled to the ground in his spirit form, but didn't try to conceal himself because he knew that a mortal could not see a Carpathian in spirit form. She looked up when he hit the ground behind her and looked toward him with widened eyes, her face shocked.  
Anastasia's breath caught in her throat as she looked at the man who had seemingly fallen out of the sky and landed near her. She set down her sketchpad and oil pastels and walked over to him in concern. He looked up at her in shock that she could see him. He tried to act normally as she approached him and reached out. He stood up quickly, motioning with a hand that he was all right.  
"Who are you? And how did you fall from the sky like that? Did you fall out of a tree or something?" Anastasia asked him, stopping when she knew he was not injured.  
Jonathon swore in his mind, knowing he looked like a fool now. "That is not of your business. You are an artist?" He glanced over at her sketchpad curiously, seeing the birds who he had scared away pictured immortally on the paper.  
"Not of my- GOD, you are a JERK!" Anastasia scowled at him and took her sketchpad and walked inside her house, slamming and locking the door behind her. Jonathon shook his head in anger toward himself that he had been so foolish. Now whenever she saw him, she would remember how incompetent he had been. He swore loudly and his spirit leapt back into the air, flying back toward his body. He entered his body once more and moved his stiff joints, flexing his muscles like a wolf waking from sleep. His black eyes burned with intense anger toward himself and others as he walked off down the street toward his apartment.

Anastasia walked back into her house, slamming the door behind her. After she had been so concerned about him, after she had been prepared to help him into her house and care for him if he had been hurt, how DARE he have that kind of attitude toward her? She looked down at her sketch of the swan that had been in her lake and swore. Now she could never finish its grace and beauty. She snorted through her nose in disgust and sat down, reaching across the table for a book to calm her down. After a few hours of losing herself in the realm of fantasy she stood up again and let out a deep soothing sigh. Maybe she had been too harsh on him. What if he had fallen from a tree and just didn't want to sound stupid or something? She shook her head and looked out of her window toward the clearing in the forest. She knew that someday someone would walk out of those trees and into her life forever. She just didn't know who it would be. Whenever she had a dream that repeated itself like this one did, it usually came true in some ways. But this dream was different from all the others. Not only was it confusing to her, and she didn't know what would happen to her in the future, she couldn't see what was happening in the dream. It had been a vision with her looking out of the window of her house and seeing a tall man walking toward her in determination, acting as if the lake wasn't even there. He had merely walked right through it, along the edge toward her. The dream finally ended with him only a few feet from her, but the darkness still hid his face from her view so that she didn't know what he looked like. She sighed in frustration and glanced at the clearing again. All she knew was that the figure that had been coming out of the forest wasn't Stephan. Stephan was a light haired man, and the man in the vision had definitely had long, much darker hair. She looked down at the ground uneasily for a second, wondering what the man from the vision would do once he met her. Obviously he would be important to her in some way, but she didn't know how. Would he be a publicist who would make her work known all throughout the world? Or would he be some sort of long lost sibling or something? Maybe even a dark and sexy lover? She shook her head at that last thought. She knew she didn't want a boyfriend who was dark and angst-y. She and Stephan had been lovers for a short time before and she realized with him that she wanted a lover who was tender to her and cared for her well being, not what kind of sex they would have that night. She looked at the clearing one last time before she walked into the dining room, picking up the paint brush, a canvas from her closet, and set it on the easel, painting blindly, without a purpose. She let her mind wander as she painted, not knowing which directions the brush was going or what the outcome would be. Thoughts raced in her head as she thought of what had happened today. She had sent her painting to the local gallery and bids were already reaching into the upper hundreds for the painting. She had walked home with Stephan, who had noticed the birds in the lake and suggested she paint the beautiful scene. She had started painting the scene, loving the look of the swans clashing with the geese in the pond, the white of the swans reflecting in the water, and the darker hued feathers of the geese contrasting the swans. The trees of the forest behind the lake had been beautiful since it was now late summer, a few of them were turning a darker green in preparation for fall. The man had fallen suddenly out of the air and barked the insult at her, making her furious. But why had he been so cruel when he didn't even know her? He had asked if she was an artist, so he at least had some decency. But his voice had been so mesmerizing, his tone sounded as if he knew something she didn't. She clenched her teeth as she thought of his confident look toward her, his black eyes filled with amusement at her as she stood at him. He had wavy black hair that hid one of his eyes beneath its locks and a face that was perfect. Too perfect. She finally escaped her racing thoughts to come back to reality and looked at her painting, curious to what she had made. It was a mix of water and trees, the leaves melding together and deepening their color into the water, the man from earlier in the center of the painting, smiling at her wryly, swans and geese behind him flying up into the air. Anastasia swore and turned the easel around from her, facing the wall. What was wrong with her? She shouldn't be so obsessed with a stranger, it was abnormal. She walked into the living room and looked out the window, spotting a black wolf staring at her intently from the forest. She gasped in surprise and opened the door, but the wolf had left. She looked around in confusion and closed the door again. Wolves weren't this close to the city. It was against their nature to be so near the blaring lights and sounds of the town, even though it was a small town in the upper peninsula of Michigan. She shook her head and looked at the clock, gasping that the time was already 1 in the morning. She had always loved staying up late, sleeping most of the morning and day away until 3 or 4, but this morning she had woken at 11:00 to finish her painting while the dream was still fresh in her mind. She yawned and stretched, walking through the walls of her house into her bedroom. She had painted the walls of her bedroom herself, painting a scene of a field of one section of the wall, the flowers fading into the trees of the forest on the other three sides. She had loved doing this art piece, and it was still one of her favorites. It made her feel that each time she went to bed, she was sleeping out in the forest. She had even made the finishing touch of painting the ceiling like a clear night sky, complete with dots in glow-in-the-dark paint in the forms of major constellations. She put on a night gown and crawled into bed, setting her glasses on the table beside the bed carefully. The clock now read 2:00 am in large glaring red letters. Anastasia sighed, knowing she would most likely be sleeping until 4 or 5 tomorrow, but it didn't really matter, since she didn't have a real schedule to keep.

Jonathon looked at the small house in the forest clearing through wolf's eyes, watching solemnly as the light in the window finally went off. He silently concentrated and turned his form into a wisp of mist, floating through the crack of the window in her bedroom. He looked down at her slumbering face, her hair spread behind her head on the pillow in waves of brown silk, her face perfectly relaxed. He felt a rush of heat race through his veins and a pull from the pit of his stomach for her. He was still young for Carpathian standards, only 900 years. Since then the world has gone into chaos and much of the experiences only older Carpathians had he had experienced when he was young. He therefore lost his emotions much more quickly than usual, and some emotions he had never experienced before in his life. Like this one. His body ached for hers, his mind filled with erotic images of what he could do to her if he woke her up, undressed her and had his way. A small sound caught his attention from her, and he looked down to the ground to see a small dog looking up at him with a curious face, its bushy tail wagging happily. It had one leg that was bent in the middle, flopping brown ears and a small stature. Jonathon looked down at the dog and pet him on the head to make him keep quiet, looking at the collar to see what his name was and if he belonged to this woman. The tag read 'Coco' and he was registered with this house. So he belonged to her? Jonathon looked back at the sleeping woman, holding back the urge to wake her up, knowing she would not like to suddenly see a man in her house with no idea how he had gotten in. He decided that he would have to be patient, even through the ache of wanting to be with her. She was only human, after all. With that he turned into a small wisp of mist and floated through the house and under a small crack in the window, materializing outside the house into a black wolf that bolted off into the forest after taking one last look at the house behind it.

"Hey! Anastasia, honestly you have to stop staying up so late or something!" Stephan yelled from outside the door, knocking on the wood as hard as he could to wake her up. He had the strangest feeling he was being watched for some reason, and wanted to get in out of the open as soon as possible. Anastasia opened the door, her hair in knots and her eyes drooping.  
"You stupid morning bird, what time is it?" She growled, annoyed had being woken up so early.  
"It's almost 1:00! What are you doing still sleeping? How late did you stay up last night?"  
"I was working on drawing a swan in the lake at night, but it got scared off. I couldn't finish it. God I'm so tired, why don't you come back later or something?" She murmured, and leaned against the door frame.  
"Because you have a meeting at the art gallery to explain your paintings and reveal one of your newest pieces, remember? Or did you forget in your realm of fantasy?" He sneered, and walked through the door way as she moved aside to let him in. Stephan looked behind him into the forest as the strange feeling of being watched and threatened made a shiver crawl up his spine. He guided Anastasia through the doorway by her shoulders protectively and shut the door behind him.  
"Get ready, and I'll drive you to the gallery little miss hippy. Why don't you get a car, anyway?"  
"Cars are dangerous, reckless, and the major factor of pollution in our atmosphere. If I can help it, I'm going to refrain from contributing my fair share of ozone destruction." She explained matter-of-factly, and walked through the drawing strewn living room into her bedroom to get dressed, closing the door behind her. Stephan looked around at the different canvases lining the walls and grinned as he saw a painting of himself hanging from one of the nails hammered into the wooden house. He had posed for that painting for nearly two hours in order to satisfy her. Not to mention get a free meal, since that was part of the agreement. He accidentally knocked one of the paintings on the ground over, and looked down at it as he picked it up in curiosity. It was a painting of a very rugged looking man, with black hair and dark eyes that told of a secret he was waiting to tell. Who was this guy? As long as he had known Anastasia, she wasn't the type of woman who swoons over men easily. In fact, she was rather stubborn about it, insisting that she was picky and wanted the right guy to come along.  
Then who was this new man, and why did he look wild? Like a beast ready to pounce on its prey. Stephan let out a snort of discontent and set the painting back against the wall, facing backwards so he wouldn't have to look at it again. He looked up as Anastasia walked out of her bedroom and he grinned, seeing her outfit.  
"Like it? I made it myself with some spare fabric." She smiled, twirling and letting the shirt dazzle him with its bright purples, teals and blues. It was a long sleeve shirt, and the front had pieces of cloth draping down so that while she spun, they whirled out with her.  
"Yeah, it's nice. You ready yet?" He asked, glancing to the window as he felt something peering in at him. He saw the large snout of a wolf disappear from view and hissed in a gasp of surprise. "Anastasia, you've got wolves around your house!" He said, and looked at her in worry.  
"So?" She looked at him in confusion, wondering why he was so worried. Wolves were a common sight around here.  
"So they're dangerous! I don't think you should walk around outside in the forest much longer." he said, knowing that every night she went out into the forest to go for an 'inspiration walk' as she liked to call them.  
"Oh, bibbledee gibbledee. You worry too much. I'll be fine." She smirked, and bopped him on the nose with the palm of her hand playfully. he let out a long sigh, shook his head and walked out of the house, looking over at the wolf that peered at him, its dark wild eyes measuring him for whether he was friend or foe.


	2. Chapter 2: The Rescue

-1Anastasia was hanging her latest picture on the wall when a woman tapped her shoulder from behind. She turned around to see a small woman, her eyes a bright green and her hair dark brown. Her figure was nearly perfect, making Anastasia wonder for a minute whether this woman was synthetic or real. Thinking of her own slightly heavy figure, her mind sighed silently.  
"Hello, I've loved your art for a long time. How do you get your inspiration?" She asked, looking at the painting Anastasia had just hung up.  
"Actually, most of my ideas come from my dreams. I have a very active imagination."  
"You're lucky. Imagination is a wonderful thing, but being open-minded is a gift of its own as well."  
"Yes, it is. I've always been rather open-minded and willing to accept strange things. What did you say your name is again?"  
"Carlotta. Carlotta Tamori, at your service." She said, and bowed her head slightly. Anastasia was slightly taken aback at the sudden formality, but nodded her head as well.  
"Do I know you from somewhere?" Anastasia looked at her curiously, not able to shake the feeling that she had seen this woman before.  
"No, I don't believe so. My brother is the man you met yesterday. I've come here on his behalf." Carlotta said, and looked around the room to see whether people were listening to their conversation or not. Just to be safe, she muted the air around them so that their voices didn't go past her and Anastasia's bodies.  
"Oh, him." Anastasia rolled her eyes in exasperation.  
Carlotta laughed, her voice airy and sweet. "Yes, him. I understand he made you upset yesterday when he was climbing those trees in the forest?"  
"Is that what he was doing? Honestly, I was just painting and all of a sudden a full grown man falls from the sky. It freaked me out."  
"I'm sure it did, it would have startled me as well. I do have to tell you though that he is sincerely sorry for startling you like that, and then yelling at you. He was just trying to cover the fact that he as a full grown man got injured from falling from a tree he was climbing."  
"Where is he now?" Anastasia asked, looking around. She couldn't help but want to see him again with his raven black hair and his deep, dark eyes.  
"He is taking a walk in the forest. He is very fond of the wilderness."  
"I am too. There's nothing like a silent walk through the woods to get the mind thinking."  
Carlotta smiled warmly, and nodded her head, and looked Anastasia up and down from head to toe, as if judging her. Satisfied, she nodded her head.  
"Did my brother ever tell you his name?"  
"No, I don't think so."  
"That's just like him, isn't it?" Carlotta put her face in her hand and chuckled. She looked back up at Anastasia, her eyes warm again. "His name s Jonathon Tamori. He and I are both from Romania."  
"But you have an English accent." Anastasia tilted her head slightly in confusion. Carlotta chuckled, and nodded.  
"Yes, we grew up in England. We've only moved here recently, and Jonathon is getting used to the new surroundings. He really is like a child sometimes. He needs to know the forest around him in order for him to feel satisfied as he walks through the woods."

"I have a path for myself made so that I won't get lost. I have horrible tracking and navigation skills." Anastasia smiled, and giggled, remembering once that she had gotten so lost she had to live on berries and a trapped rabbit for food.  
"It takes practice, but I'm sure you'll improve. Now I have to go - what was your name again?"  
"Anastasia Bader. I'll see you later, Carlotta. Say hello to Jonathon for me, and tell him no hard feelings."  
"Excellent. Good-bye, Anastasia." Carlotta waved gently and walked out of the building. Anastasia watched her leave with a bittersweet mixture of feelings. She seemed nice, but Carlotta was obviously keeping something secret.

_Carlotta, where are you?_ Jonathon's voice rang through Carlotta's head as she transformed into a wolf and ran into the forest.  
_Talking with your lifemate. She seems nice._ Carlotta sent with a snicker, knowing Jonathon's reaction.  
_What have you been saying to her? How is she? Is she safe?_ Jonathon sounded desperate for an answer.  
_She is safe, be calm. Your meeting with her frightened her. A human is not used to seeing men fall from the sky. She said no hard feelings though, which means you should probably meet her again soon to mend the gap._  
_You truly heard that from her? Did you find out her name?_  
_Yes, her name is Anastasia Bader._  
_Anastasia..._ He said the name, as if experimenting how it sounded to him. _Isn't that Russian?_ his voice sounded anxious again.  
_Yes, but I don't believe she is part of the Wolf clan in Russia. It sounds like she has psychic powers of some sort, in her dreams, and that she had seen me before. Perhaps she has premonitions?_  
_I wouldn't doubt it, from the way she makes her paintings before the event happens_ Jonathon said thoughtfully.  
_What do you mean?_  
_I have been looking at her paintings for a long time, and whenever a major disaster strikes in the world, she paints a picture of it days before it happens._  
_You must meet her Jonathon, you sound like a love-struck teenager._  
_Yes, but later. For now I must feed. I will meet you at sunrise in the cave._  
_Be careful Jonathon, you're more vulnerable to the change now than ever._ Carlotta warned her brother, her voice ringing with concern.  
_No need to worry, sister. I will be all right._ He told her, and leapt from the ground, changing in mid-air to a hawk, flying through the breezes toward the city to find his meal.

"Jonathon? Who's that?" Stephan looked at Anastasia as she paced the room. She had been this restless ever since she came back from the gallery, not able to stand still. It was driving him crazy. "God, sit down already, Anastasia." He grumbled, standing up, bringing her over to a chair and pushing her shoulders down so that she sat.  
"Jonathon is a man I met yesterday. I was drawing a swan when he fell from a tree nearby."  
"He was climbing a tree?" Stephan looked at her skeptically.  
"I guess so. That's what his sister told me."  
"You met his sister too? When did you get so social?"  
"I met her at the gallery. If you don't like them, tough luck, because they both seem like nice people. I think I may go on a date with Jonathon too." Anastasia smiled slyly, putting her chin in her palm thoughtfully. Stephan raised an eyebrow and shook his head. Remembering the painting he walked over and held out the picture of the man with black hair to her.  
"Is this Jonathon?" He asked, holding it out to her, and shaking his head when she nodded. "He seems dangerous, Anastasia. I wouldn't mess with him."  
"He seems very romantic to me. Like when a heroine meets a man of strange coincidence and they wind up falling in love and living happily ever after together." She said, and made a daydreaming expression.  
"Earth to Anastasia, you read _way_ too many romance books. Get your head out of the clouds, things like that don't happen in real life."  
"They should." Anastasia muttered, and looked at one of the dozens of blank canvases in the corner. She tried to make at least one painting a day, or at least work on one. Taking a canvas in hand, she walked over to the easel and set it on there, getting her paints ready to work. "I think I'll try an abstract today. I need to sort out my emotions."  
"Abstracts are popular, so that's good. It'll sell well too."  
"Painting's not about selling, Stephan. It's about expression." She looked at him over the canvas with a glare.  
"Selling is good too though, puts bread on the table."  
"And stress in the mind."  
"You're never content." He sighed, and waved a hand to dismiss the conversation. "I'd better head home, I work tonight."  
"Okay, I'll see you later, Stephan." she said, and looked at the blank canvas in front of her. No ideas sprung up. Nothing at all. Whenever she got a blank mind like this, she knew it was time to take a walk in the woods again. It was both calming and inspiring to see the trees tower above you so much.  
She grabbed her lightweight coat and walked out the door, closing it behind her.  
As she walked among the trees, she let her mind wander slightly. Why did Stephan hate Jonathon so much? Was he jealous at all? She and Stephan had dated once before, but they were too similar for it to work out. They had agreed to stay friends though, and that's half the battle. She hoped he wasn't jealous. Jealous men were very annoying to deal with.  
What about Jonathon? Where does he live, anyway? He probably lives in the woods with his sister if he likes the forest so much, but she had never seen another cabin in the many long years she had been staying in her own home. Perhaps they actually lived in the city and Jonathon only came over here for some fun on vacations?  
Her mind wandered aimlessly, thinking about nonsense until she looked around her again to follow the trail. Only- there was no trail in sight. Going into a panic, she looked around her for the dirt path. Nothing, nothing at all. Making a small squeak of fear she remembered Stephan saying something about there being wolves in the woods. What if she was attacked? She wrapped her arms around herself and started walking toward, the way she thought that her cabin was. Hearing a small growl come from her right, she quickened her pace. Hearing the growl get louder, she started jogging until she looked behind her and saw a large brown bear lunging after her. Screaming in fear, she ran for her life, trying to keep away as long as she could. She knew she couldn't climb a tree, bears can climb trees. Oh God, what now? Was this how she was going to die? At the hand of an animal in her beloved woods? She yelled as she tripped over an upturned root and fell to the ground, scrambling onto her back as the bear caught up to her and loomed over her. She closed her eyes, prepared for death when she felt a rush of air and the bear cry out in pain. She looked up to see a black wolf sinking its jaws into the bear's large arm, its eyes a dark brown as it looked at the bear in absolute hatred. Letting go of the bear's arm, the wolf stood between Anastasia and the bear, its fur bristling in anger. Anastasia looked at the wolf in fear as well, but knew that somehow and for some reason this animal was protecting her. She scrambled to her feet and ran behind a tree, trying to get something between her and the animals fighting. The bear finally gave up, running off with a slight limp in one leg. Anastasia pressed herself against the tree in fear as the wolf started to walk toward her, its muzzle and chest covered in blood. The wolf nudged her leg in concern and she collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed and exhausted.

Looking at Anastasia in concern through the form of a wolf, Jonathon nuzzled her cheek gently, but accidentally smeared blood of her skin. Seeing now why she had been so frightened, he wiped his snout on the grass of the forest floor and changed back into his normal form, wiping the remnants of blood off of his skin. He looked down at her, his eyes soft as he picked her up and started walking back to her house silently, not wanting to wake her. Opening the door to her cabin with a hard kick, he went into the house and set her down on a small bed in her room. He took a look around her house with a smile, never having seen it before in detail. Pictures of different fantasy creatures littered the walls, still lives of animals and objects occasionally hung beside them. A large canvas of a man caught his eye, and he looked at the picture of the blond haired human with clenched teeth. What was her relationship with him? Surely she wasn't married already. She wouldn't be living alone if she were married, right? He had seen the man go over to her house many times during the night, but always came out after a short period of talking. Looking down at Anastasia as she stirred, he decided it was best to disguise himself in his wolf form until she woke. Changing into the wolf, he jumped up on the bed beside her and laid his head down in the circle of his arms, sighing happily as she wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in the mane of hair at his neck.

Anastasia woke up hugging an animal, and wondered if her dog Coco had come up into the bed with her. She pet the dog's head, only to find the build of the animal all wrong. She sat up quickly and saw the wolf in the bed beside her with a loud gasp, and looked outside to see the sky pitch black. What was going on? Why was there a wolf in her bed with her?  
She remembered the bear encounter and bit her lip nervously. This wolf had saved her for some reason, and had even brought her back to her cabin. Why had a wild animal helped her? It didn't make sense. The animal looked up at her and its dark brown eyes shone with reassurance. She reached out a hand and stroked its fur softly, smiling as it let out a long, moaning growl as she ran her hands through the mane of its neck.  
"Why did you save me?" She asked it, not really expecting an answer.  
_Because we are meant to be together._ A deep, resonant voice said in her head, making her jump and look at the wolf in shock. It could talk! What was going on?!  
_Please do not be frightened. I mean you no harm._ The wolf nuzzled her hand affectionately, whimpering slightly at the fear of rejection. If this woman rejected him, all would be lost to him.  
"What are you?" She gasped, reaching out to him, her hand shaking slightly.  
_I am not a species you know of. All will be known in time, Anastasia. For now, rest. I healed the bruises and scrapes the bear caused, but you are exhausted from the encounter. Sleep._ He looked at her, and sent his will on her, making her slowly nod and fade into slumber. Jonathon smiled down at her, glad she had not screamed at seeing an animal in bed with her. She was a strong woman with an open mind. That would serve useful later. For now, he rested his head next to hers until the neared rising, then slipped out of the cabin to take his own rest in the earthen soil.


	3. Chapter 3: Destiny

-1_A man with black hair and dark brown eyes looked around in stark fear. Where had she gotten to? He had vowed to protect her, and now she was in grave danger, yet he could do nothing about it. He let out a yell of anger and storm clouds opened overhead, pouring torrential rain to stop the progress of his enemy. She could die. She would die, if he stayed here. Turning into mist he shot through the ground, through the barriers the vampire had made for him, shattering him with his fear and anger for Anastasia's survival. If she died...  
he could not even think about it, the pain wrenched at his heart at even the thought of seeing her fragile body lying on the ground motionless. She was always full of spirit and happiness, to have her so quiet and sadly lifeless was a terrible thought to him. Shooting through the air as fast as he could, he looked at the scenery below him and saw a being running, carrying a limp body in his arms against his hip. Jonathon yelled in anger, seeing Anastasia unconscious and shot down to the ground in front of the vampire, his eyes blazing red. The vampire let out a long hiss of anger and lashed out at him with ragged, sharp nails, catching him on the side of the face and tearing open his cheek. Paying no heed to the wound, Jonathon kicked the vampire aside, grabbing Anastasia from his arms in one move. The wound to his chest from his earlier battle throbbed as he held his woman, but he only cared for her safety. _

_Setting her on the ground as gently as he would treat a small child, he turned back to face the vampire with bared fangs. Guiding a bolt of lightening from the sky, he struck the vampire in a spray of electricity, sending pieces of the being in all directions, splattering the foul beast's rotting organs across the field. The entrails started to move together again toward a black, pulsating heart. Jonathon quickly guided another bolt of lightening to the heart, completely destroying it. Using lightening to burn the entrails around him into ashes so that no evidence of the killing remained, he cleansed himself of the foul blood and returned to Anastasia. Kneeling beside her, he lifted her head gently into his arms, checking for a pulse beneath on her neck, but felt only a slight flutter of life. With a cry of anguish, he tore apart his wrist with his teeth and held it to her mouth, determined to save her, if no one else. He let the blood drop into her mouth with desperate eyes. She would live...  
she would live..._

waking with a startle, Anastasia looked around her cabin for the wolf that had appeared last night. It had vanished somehow, after she had suddenly gotten so tired she could no longer keep her eyes open. With a heavy sigh, she wondered whether the wolf had just been her imagination playing with her. She certainly had enough imagination to make such a wild dream and she had been very tired lately, so she might have been hallucinating. Nodding in agreement and deciding that the wolf had merely been a hallucination, she reviewed her recent dream.

What a strange dream it had been, too. Vampires and blood, entrails and lightening, it was much more dark and violent than her usual premonitions were. It made her shudder in fear to think that it could come true, that it was even possibly real. She looked down at the ground to see Coco, her small dog looking up at her with confusion. Obviously something had happened last night to frighten the dog. She scratched the dog behind the ear reassuringly and stood up, looking out the window to see the sun high in the sky. How long had she slept? What time was it? She looked at the clock on her desk, which read about 4:00. She put a hand to her forehead and sighed. What a strange night. After hallucinating all over the forest and then having that wild dream… What had the wolf said anyway, 'we are meant to be together?' What was that supposed to mean, anyway? Why was she meant to be with a talking wolf? Her mind did such strange things sometimes. A frantic knock on her door dragged her back to reality. She ran through the house and opened the door, Stephan running through the door and closing it behind him, looking her over in concern.  
"Are you alright?" He said, completing his search of her with no sight of any obvious injuries.  
"I'm fine, Stephan, why are you in such a tizzy?" she sighed.

Stephan sighed in relief and shook his head at her in disbelief. "A woman told me to watch over you better, she said you had been wandering through the forest for hours. What were you thinking, Ana? You could have gotten really hurt."  
A woman? Had someone seen her in her wanderings? She shrugged, and looked at him in exasperation. "I'm okay, Stephan, really. There's no need to worry, and I'll be alright."

Stephan looked at her apprehensively and sighed again.  
"Just be careful, alright? You're not Supergirl, you can't save yourself if you get badly hurt, Ana. I don't want you to get killed by a wolf or something." He said, and looked out the window nervously. "Listen, I need to go to work now, but I want you to promise to be careful, alright? Don't walk in the woods for too long, and be sure to stay on the trail."  
Anastasia nodded in agreement, and he walked back out of the cabin, satisfied. She looked at the blank canvases in the corner of the living room and walked over, picking one of them up, starting to paint again.

She looked up hours later, looking at the finished product, a marvelous painting of the wolf and the bear from her hallucination. Why was she able to paint the wolf so well? It looked almost as if it could leap out to her. She marveled at it and finally flopped down carelessly in the chair behind her, paint smeared across her arms and face. She took a shower to clean herself off and dried her hair, looking out the window to find it dark again. She should take another walk through the woods and try to find out what had happened, but Stephan's words revolved in her head in warning. Aw, Stephan worried too much anyway. Nothing bad would happen. After all, she had walked through the forest hundreds of times before yesterday, and nothing bad had happened to her, other than getting lost that one time…

She made the decision and looked out the window, walking toward the door to see a man come out of the forest, his strides confident as he walked toward the cabin. She gasped in realization that this was just as her dream had played out, and waited with her breath held, wondering what would happen next. A gentle knock sounded at the door, and she opened it to see Jonathon standing in the doorway, his face uneasy.  
"I came to tell you that I was sorry for startling you the other day. I didn't mean to scare you, and my sister said that I had frightened you." He said, smiling in apology to her.

Anastasia stood, looking at him with confused eyes. _He_ was the one from her dream? _He_ was the dark and mysterious man who would walk into her life?  
"Oh, like I said, no hard feelings, Jonathon." She smiled sweetly, finally finding her voice through her shock. Jonathon's smile broadened and he nodded in satisfaction. She remembered her manners and invited him in out of the Michigan chill, telling him to watch his step around the drawings. He followed her into the living room of the cabin, looking around him at the creatures lining the walls, wondering how she thought of some of the fantastic images.  
"You paint for a living, right?" He said, and looked at the painting of the wolf and the bear with a wry smirk. "I like this one a lot." he said, pointing to it.  
Anastasia smiled and chuckled. "I just finished that one. You like it, huh?" She looked at it proudly.

He looked at her and a shiver ran down his spine at her bright blue eyes. They looked the color of steel, yet were warm and caring. She looked over at the painting of him, still sitting on the chair where Stephan had put it down, and ran over to it with a squeak, setting it face-down against the wall. She looked back up at him and grinned innocently. He shrugged in confusion and walked further into the house, looking down at the small dog at his heels, its floppy ears perking at him curiously. He kneeled down and scratched the dog under the chin, making him groan in pleasure, and flop down onto his back, demanding to be pet on the stomach.

"Cheeky little guy, isn't he?" Jonathon chuckled, and obliged the dog's demands. Anastasia giggled and looked down at Coco in astonishment. He usually didn't go up to strangers so easily, none the less roll on his back for them. She wondered if somehow there was something different about Jonathon. He did seem to have a strange aura of power and confidence around him few people ever had. Jonathon stood again and looked at her, his brown eyes glinting in amusement. She gasped as she realized they were the same eyes as the wolf last night. How on earth could that be?  
"I don't mean to be nosy, but where were you last night? Out of plain curiosity."  
He looked at her as if he knew something she didn't. "Taking a walk in the woods."

"Did you see anything strange while you were out?"  
"Yes." He couldn't lie to her, it wasn't in him to do so.

"What did you see?" She looked at him, her blue eyes wide.  
"If I told you, you would be frightened." He said, shaking his head.

"No I won't, I promise. Please, tell me." She said, desperately. Maybe he had seen the wolf, or the bear! What if the wolf had been real?

"Sit down, at least." He said, and waited until she sat in the chair in front of him. He sighed quietly, hoping with all his heart she wouldn't run away from him. He wouldn't be able to go on living if she rejected him, he would have to greet the light of the sun or turn undead.

"You saw a wolf and a bear last night. The bear attacked you while you were walking through the woods, yes?"  
She nodded, her eyes widening in shock. "You saw it?"

"I was the wolf." He said, tensing in preparation for the pain that would follow.

She stared at him in surprise, and looked at him skeptically. How had he known it had happened? What was going on?! "If you're really that wolf, then what did you say to be when we got back to the cabin?"  
"I brought you back to the cabin after you fainted, and healed your wounds. I tried to calm you down, and you asked why I saved you. I answered that we were meant to be together. It's still true." He looked down at her, his brown eyes deep and filled with emotion. She gaped in shock and looked down as her mind raced to try to piece things together.  
"How did you turn into a wolf then? That's impossible!" She said, looking back up at him.  
"I also told you that I was a species you had not heard about. That is true as well. I am a species called Carpathian. We have the ability to control the elements and shape shift, but at a heavy price."

"What price?"  
"We are immortal. After a time, the beast within us cries out for reprimand and the world goes dull. I have seen in blacks and whites for many centuries now, until I saw your painting. The only way to stop the beast from taking over and turning us into monsters is to find the person we were destined to be with, our lifemate. Your painting was the only thing in the world in color, and I found your name and sought you out. I was flying through the sky to look for you when I finally found you, and color came to everything. In my startled state, I fell from the sky." He smiled softly, leaving the rest of the explanation to her memory.

"This is impossible, people can't fly and turn into animals." She said, holding her head in her hands in disbelief. He kneeled next to her and sighed softly.  
"It is true. Perhaps I have told you too much too quickly." He looked at her uneasily. "These are very new emotions for me, and they are hard to deal with. I am sorry if I frightened you."

She looked up at him, taking her hands from her face. "You're serious, aren't you? Does that mean we're life mates?"

"Yes, Anastasia, it does." He said, holding his breath.

She nodded and looked at his face, which took her breath away with its hard angles and beauty. He was perfect, in every way a man could be perfect. She however, was not. She was much too heavy to be beautiful, and her short brown hair was thick and unmanageable as it hung against her shoulders. There was no way she was destined to be with such a handsome man.

"You look sad, Anastasia, tell me, what is wrong?" He asked, looking at her in concern.

"I can't be with you, Jonathon." She looked down, her hair falling over her face. His heart coiled in on itself in horror at the words, but he restrained his emotions, moving her hair from her face to see her tear-rimmed eyes. A pressure settled in his chest, one of pain at seeing her tears, and regret for causing them.  
"Why not?" Was all he could manage to say in the torrent of emotions.  
"I don't even know anything about you. You don't know anything about me. You're amazingly handsome, and I'm…" She looked at him, and back down again.  
Ah, that was what had her so upset. She didn't see herself as beautiful? Who had told her such nonsense? "Anastasia, you are the most beautiful woman in the world." He said, leaning down to see her expression. She choked and sobbed silently, a tear running down her cheek. He put a gentle hand to her face, cradling her cheek in his hand. "You are. Who told you otherwise?"

She looked up at him and shook her head, not wanting to tell him. How could she say that she had been told so by countless people, all throughout her life? Ever since she had been in grade school she had been reprimanded for being too heavy. Being too strange, being too imaginative. Countless times she had tried to lose enough weight to satisfy them, but to no avail.

God, he hated to see her cry. Every nerve in his being called out for him to comfort her, for him to do something to help her, but didn't tell him _what_ to do. He had never felt so unsure in his entire life. He finally settled on holding her close to his chest, wrapping his arms around her small back. "Perhaps we should take a stroll in the woods, since you like the trees so much?" He said, his grip around her tightening reassuringly. She nodded and looked up at him, drying her eyes quickly in embarrassment.  
"I'm sorry, I usually don't get as emotional as that."  
"I know, you are a strong and capable woman." He smiled to her, and released his embrace, standing and offering his hand to her. She smiled back and took his hand, letting him guide her out the door.


	4. Chapter 4: Fulfilled Love

They walked in silence for a while, neither daring to interrupt the connection between them. He glanced to her from the corner of his eye and his breath caught in his throat at the sight of her bright eyes and pale skin in the moonlight, like a pagan goddess of old. He stopped them in a clearing and looked down at her, his brown eyes dark with emotion. He leaned down and kissed her gently, warmth flowing through them both at the contact. The beast within him reared and cried out for its possession of her. He closed his eyes and leaned away, breaking the kiss regretfully. She touched her lips with a finger, wondering how so much emotion had been caused by such a little contact. Was there really that much chemistry between them? Was she really destined to be with him and only him?  
"We should get to know each other better." She said her voice strangely low and sultry.  
"Yes, I'd like to know everything about you. Where should we start?" He wrapped his arm around her.  
"Do you have any hobbies?" She asked, leaning into his chest. Her head felt completely clear, her mind absolutely content. It was hard to think with her head so absent of its usual chaos.  
"I am a craftsman turned into a Hunter. I shape metal into whatever I like." He said, once again looking into her steel-blue eyes.  
"What's something strange about you, like a weird fear or something?"  
"I am not fond of heights, though I try to ignore how high I am while I fly." He smiled, resting his cheek against her soft hair. It was strange how his body cried out for contact when he had no memory of feeling a craving like this before. Her body was so different from his, it intrigued him. She was curved where he was angled, soft where he was hard. Hers was a body made for love, with generous shapes and hidden valleys. So why was she so shy of herself?  
"I hate spiders." She admitted, and giggled. She gasped in surprise when his lips moved down from her hair to her neck underneath, kissing and licking at the pulse beneath her skin.  
Temptation was destroying reasoning, making it far too difficult for him to think of why he shouldn't just take her now in the wild and moonlight. She moved her hands up to his back and bunched his tee shirt in her fists. Her breath was coming more quickly, her heart beat racing under his mouth. Why were her reactions so strong with him? She had never hungered for contact like this before.  
He could no longer resist. Calming her mind to a blank, he kissed her pulse and sank his teeth deep into the flesh, insatiably drinking the nectar that filled his mouth. A part of darkness in him filled, and the beast's roar in his mind calmed slightly. He closed the pinpricks with a swipe of his tongue and brought her out of his trance with a deep kiss. She looked up at him, her blue eyes darker with passion. Such passions between people amazed her; she had thought it was only in movies and romance novels. How could it be that she had found such a thing in real life?  
"You are amazing, Anastasia. I cannot be without you." He smiled warmly, wiping a thumb over the curve of her cheek. She held his hand to her face and hummed a happy sound.  
"You accept my love then, Ana?" He smiled softly to her.  
"I accept it, but it's still too soon to return as much as you've given. I don't really know you that well yet." She looked up at him sadly.   
It would do, for now. At least she had accepted him.  
"So, what else can you tell me about your species? Is there anything else different from humans?"  
"We control weather, and find sustenance in a different way than humans."  
She looked at him in confusion. What did he mean by that?  
Jonathon looked down at her uneasily. "Promise me you won't run away if I tell you."  
She nodded, wondering what was so bad that she had to promise such a thing.  
"I get my sustenance from human blood."  
She stared at him in shock. He was a _vampire?_

"No, never that." He said, reading her mind. "Vampires are the men of our species that have given up hope of life and been consumed by the evil inside of them. They live only for the pleasure of killing. I hunt vampires, to save mankind from their rule."  
"So, you're not a vampire, but you still drink blood?" She looked at him in relief.  
"Correct, especially yours, my sweet. You are the only thing that can fill the void that my immortality has made."  
She flushed from his declaration, and nearly giggled from the giddiness that ran through her. "Well, I suppose you can take as much of my blood as you need. Just don't take too much." She chuckled, poking him on the chest teasingly.

He smiled at her in amazement that she was taking things so easily. "Tell me, how do you accept all these strange things so well?"  
"Oh please!" She scoffed. "I have dreams that come to life, Stephan can move objects around rooms. There are stranger things in the world."

He frowned at the mention of another man, especially one with psychic powers. "Who is Stephan?"  
"Stephan is an old friend. Don't worry, we're only friends." She snickered at his sudden jealousy.  
"I will have to meet this man soon. Is he the bright haired man that often visits you?"  
"Yes, that's Stephan. Please don't hate him, Jon, he's a good friend of mine. He would do nothing to hurt me."  
"Just as long as you don't fawn over him. I… don't know what I would do." He said, tracing the line of her chin with a gentle finger. She wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling when she realized he was nearly a foot taller than her.  
"This feels right. When I'm with you, I feel calm and content. I don't know why, but I know I can't be without you either. I just need time with you to understand the feeling more."  
"We have time, but not forever. The beast in me is strong from so many recent wars. I will not last for too much longer. I will not turn vampire though, I will greet the sun and perish in the light."  
Anastasia gripped him to her possessively at even the thought of him dying. "You can't die, Jonathon. I won't allow it."  
Jonathon smiled down at her and kissed her again, pouring his love into her and glad that she was a strong woman. He would hate to be stuck forever with a dependent whiney girl who always wanted his attention. He found such people annoying. "I know you won't. That's why I want you to understand what being a lifemate means, but I don't want to scare you."  
"You won't scare me. I want to know everything that happens around me, even if I don't like it."  
Jonathon held her hand in his and put his other arm around her waist.  
"In order to save me from the beast forever, we must both be Carpathian, by blood exchange."  
"So I have to be like you, and survive on blood too?"  
He nodded cautiously. "However, the only man's neck you will be feeding from will be mine, baby. I'm afraid I can't allow it any other way."

She smiled and stood on her toes, kissing his neck gently, making him gasp and shudder, running a hand through her hair.  
"Ana, baby, please…" He whispered, his voice husky.  
"Yes?" She smiled against his pulse. He grasped her shoulders and pushed her back, trying to fight for his sanity.  
"Ana, please, you don't know what you're getting yourself into…" He looked back down at her, his eyes filled with desire, lust filling his every pore, every cell.

"I think I do, Jon, or maybe this moonlight is making me act funny." Her mind clouded, a hundred fantasies running through her thoughts.  
"Then you admit…" He swallowed a lump in his throat as she bit his neck teasingly. "You want to make love with me by the light of the moon?" He wrapped his arms around her again, running his hands along her curves, closing his eyes and lifting his face to the sky as he moaned.  
"Do I just bite you then?" She chuckled against his neck. He shook his head and turned his nails into claws, ripping open a wound in his chest. She gasped in paint at the sight of the wound on his chest. He saw her pain and put her into another trance, setting her mouth to the wound. He gasped, his eyes widening as white lightning rushed through him in pleasure. When he was sure she had taken enough for an exchange, he closed the wound and woke her from her trance.

He looked down at her and kissed her softly. He brought her down to the forest floor, making a carpet of moss grow beneath her back. Through her thin white tank top, the moisture of the evening making the shirt stick to her. He smiled as he moved a lock of brown hair from her cheek, and saw in her eyes not only desire, but also fear.  
"Perhaps we should wait, Anastasia. I see fear in your eyes."  
"No, not of you." She said, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him down on top of her, sighing at the weight of him on top of her, making some deep instinct in her content. "I've dreamed about you countless times. I've seen in your mind, and you've seen into mine. I feel like I've known you all my life. I… don't know how to explain the feeling."  
Jonathon moved so that his body blanketed hers and moved his weight to his elbows so he didn't crush her.

"I know, baby, I know. This is so passionate, and to think that a lifemate's love only grows in the years to come." He chuckled, and moved a hand up to her breast, kneading the flesh while kissing her again. She looked down at him with such lust that the air was rushed from his lungs. He felt his clothes become uncomfortable and itchy and willed them away, craving to touch her bare flesh. He moved her shirt over her head, running his hands over her sides so that she shivered and moaned softly. Using a clawed nail he cut the white satin bra containing her breasts, which freed from their constriction. He kissed her chest, planting small kisses and nips over her sternum and breasts. She cried out as he sucked on her nipple, the sounds she was making only making him more hot and hard. He stripped her of the rest of her clothes frantically, lost in the heat of the moment. She clung to him, her nails racking on his back as she arched up into him, her hips pressing against his erection pleadingly. She felt as if her skin was on fire, the heat centering between her legs and radiating.

He hissed in a breath, throbbing to be inside her, but knew he should wait… He reached down and rested his finger against her opening, making her gasp his name loudly, looking up at him with blazing eyes. Watching her expressions, he moved his finger over her, driving her to the brink. Just when she thought she would die from the pleasure, he inserted the finger into her, pumping in and out as a trial of what was to come. She writhed against his hand, begging for more, unable to control herself.

He smiled at the way she was completely uninhibited, her back arching and her face flushed, her red lips parted slightly as she cried out, hot liquid coating his finger. He inserted another finger, stretching her so that she yelled, arching more into him. He took his hand out of her and settled himself over her, his sensitive head resting against her opening. He gasped in pleasure at the head of her, and slowly slid into her, watching her eyes glaze over. He reached a yielding and stopped, looking down at her with warm eyes. This was her first time.   
"This might hurt a little, love." he whispered. She nodded, and he pressed himself firmly into her, shuddering at the firm grip of her around him. She whimpered in pain, and looked up at him, her eyes wide.

"Calm down, baby, you have to relax." He said, smoothing down her rumpled hair to try to calm her down. She relaxed and he slid the rest of himself inside of her, making her gasp and wrap her legs around his waist, rising her hips up to meet his thrusts. He lost himself in the pleasure of her body, grunting as he finally reached the climax of feeling, their cries melding together in the night in the middle of a powerful orgasm. He looked down at her, his face flushed and drenched with sweat, his wet hair hanging around his face in strings. He chuckled as he saw her content face, her lips red and puffy from his kisses and her body flushed from his loving. He slipped himself out of her and laid beside her, wrapping himself around her protectively  
"That was amazing." She whispered, nuzzling her cheek against his.  
"Yes, it was. I should get you back to your cabin though, the sun will rise soon."

"We wouldn't want you to get caught out in the light, love. You'd better get in your cave of coffin or wherever you sleep."  
"Actually, I sleep underground. When I sleep, it seems like I'm dead. But remember, I'm not actually dead, I'll be there should you need me." he smiled, and picked her up, walking back to her cabin and opening the door, setting her down on her bed, still naked.  
"Sleep now, little love. I will see you tomorrow night." He kissed her forehead softly, easing her mind into slumber. With regret he walked out of the room and pet her dog a little on the chin before turning into a wolf and closing the door behind him on his way out, making sure she was safe. He ran back to the cave he and Carlotta shared, opening the ground and falling into a deep sleep.

**Caroline L'Amoure: Well, I've decided that I probably won't go on with the story unless I get a few more reviews. I've got a busy schedule and such and I don't know if anyone else but **Elenemire **_(Who I thank for giving me some advice on writing, I love constructive criticism!)_** **really minds if I continue the story at all. So, until I get some more reviews, you're gonna have to wait for Carlotta and Stephan's reaction to that little interlude they had :)**


	5. Chapter 5: Discovery

After a long morning of sleep, Ana woke up to hear a knock on her door. She quickly put on a robe and stumbled through the house, her hair ruffled from last night's events. She opened the door and found Stephan smiling to her, but his smile soon turned into a frown.

"What the hell happened to you? You look like you…" His eyes widened and he pushed through her into the house, looking around for anyone else in there. "Where is he?" He asked, gritting his teeth as he looked in closets and behind doors.  
"Where's who? What's wrong with you?" Anastasia sighed, and shook her head. "Oh, you're looking for him, huh? Why, are you angry at him or something?" She sneered, and chuckled as he looked up with a flustered expression.   
"No, of course not. This is so out of character for you. What ever happened to 'I'd never have a trounce in the bed with a stranger' Ana? You just met this guy a few days ago."

"Ah, so you do know who it is." She smiled, her eyes brighter than usual.  
"Of course I know who it is. I'm not stupid, you know. I just don't think you should be doing this when you've known each other for such a short amount of time. Do you even know anything about him, other than his name and that he's tall dark and handsome?"  
"Of course I do, you snot. What's wrong with you anyway? You act as if you're jealous."  
"I am not, I'm just worried for your safety. This guy gives me the chills. He looks at people as if he's a wild animal ready to pounce." Stephan shook his head and gave up on his search, flopping down on a chair, and set his forehead in his hand in exasperation.  
"Well whether you like it or not, I love him and I'm staying with him." Anastasia said, her voice low and cautious.

He looked up at her with a surprised expression, and shook his head again. "How do you know you love him? Do you even know anything about his past, where he came from?"  
"Yes. He told me all about himself. Look Stephan, you can't order me around as if we're still together. We ended that long ago. I thought we had settled it."  
"Yeah, I did too." Stephan sighed, and looked up at her sheepishly. Ana let out a cry of frustration at him.

"Oh, for the love of all that's good and holy. You still like me? You told me you got over it with Katie!" She said, nudging his shin with the point of her foot.  
"I thought I did, alright? I hardly know what's going on with myself anymore. This guy gives me the creeps though. Don't you remember what happened with Ben? Do you want that to happen again?!" As soon as he said it, he regretted it. He flinched as her expression crumbled, her eyes widening at the mention of that bastard's name.  
"Get out." She hissed, her eyes brimming with tears.  
"Ana- I didn't mean…" He said softly, reaching toward her to try to sooth her.  
"OUT!" She yelled, pulling him up and pushing him across the room, out the door and slamming it behind him. She looked up to the ceiling as her eyes flowed with tears at the memories of the pain. She had wanted to forget it. She locked the door as Stephan tried to open it, and leaned against the wood, ignoring his voice yelling her name countless times. Ben had been too good to be true. A polite southern man, he opened doors for her, made her feel as if she were the only woman in the world worth looking at. She knew she should have noticed something was wrong when she didn't want him to call him by his first name, but by his middle name, Jeremy. Why hadn't she seen it earlier?

He had used her and abused her, but she thought it was all part of having a deep relationship. One night, he had come to her house drunk, and she had let him in, thinking he was lost. He hadn't been lost of course, he had wanted to see her and tell her a few things on her mind. After the beating, he left her on the ground bruised and hurt, her shirt and pants torn off and the painting she had been working on ruined. She had cried for days, alone in her house until Stephan had finally come along to see her, and found out what had happened. By that time Ben had skipped town, and was nowhere to be found. She had vowed to herself never to have that happen again.

How could she have been so stupid and blind, it almost made her sick now naïve she had been. She heard Stephan's voice stop and his footsteps stomping away, his car starting and driving off. She slumped against the wall and looked at the ground under her feet, feeling absolutely lost and alone. What if she was being stupid again? What if she had made a horrible mistake, and he was just trying to pull her into a bad relationship like she had had before?

She could almost feel something in her mind, a faint whisper, protest her thoughts. She tried to hold onto the voice, but it disappeared amidst all her other feelings. Was she really so stupid? She looked down at herself and realized that she had never changed clothes from the night before, and had only stuck on a robe to see Stephan. Was she really so used to herself now? She still hated the way she looked. Sure she had curves, but they were too large, her hips far too wide, her thighs far too big. Short stubby legs holding up a large torso. She wrapped her arms around herself and buried her face in her elbows.

God, she wished someone was still here with her. She hated being alone. Why had she shoved Stephan out the door? Jonathon was still sleeping, and he had said that while he was sleeping it was if he were dead. He couldn't come even if he wanted to, it was the middle of the day now. She looked up as she felt something stirring in her mind. It wasn't like when Jonathon had tried to soothe her last night. This wasn't Jonathon at all, but someone, some_thing_ else. It wasn't good, whatever it was. She stood and felt horror creep down her spine. Was this the evil thing Jonathon had spoke of, the vampire? A Carpathian gone evil? She shivered at the thought and made sure the doors and windows were locked before walking deeper into the house to paint more and get her mind off things.

The ground was screaming. All around Jonathon, the dirt was almost crawling with horror as something evil traveled through it. He knew well what it was, and his mind came out of the haze of drowsiness with a start of pure fear. Not for himself, he was a hunter of centuries of experience, vampires killed easily by his knowledge he had acquired from Vietnam and Russia during the human's wars. He wasn't as old as the other Carpathians that had been sent out before his time, but he was old enough to know what the vampire was after.

He burst from the ground, dirt spraying in all directions. He shielded his eyes from the afternoon sun and winced as his skin started to burn in the bright light. He decided it would be easier to go underground, and went with all his speed toward Anastasia's small cabin. He called to her with his mind, finding her very awake and painting again. He smiled softly as he thought of the masterpiece she must be making, the color of the canvas once again taking him by surprise with her expertise. He got his mind back to the matter at hand with a quick shake of his head and alerted Ana, who jumped with surprise, spraying red paint onto her arm. She looked down with a curse and looked around in confusion, wondering where the voice had come from.

_Ana, you must hide! NOW!_ Jonathon's voice filled her mind, his desperate plea sending her into a run. Where? Where should she hide? She jumped behind the paintings, the stacks of larger canvases hiding the spot and shadowing her under their frames. 'She silently wondered why she was hiding, and why Jon sounded so afraid. Was it because of the thing that felt wrong? Was it really a vampire? She shuddered as the feeling of dread in her increased, and a bird went flying, screeching in blind horror and thudding into the window in its haste. Animals ran outside the window, all into the east. Something must be coming from the west, then.

_Are you hidden? I'm afraid I won't make it in time. You must not touch it, do not even look at it. Stay completely silent until I am there, all will be well._ Jonathon soothed her as her heart beat quickly in fear. She closed her eyes and remembered the dream she had last night, the many Carpathians surrounding her, all chanting in some strange tongue. She wondered what it meant when suddenly her house shuddered, the very frames of woodwork shaking from the impact of a thunderstorm overheard. Nothing had said anything about rain though. What was happening?!

She looked up as a strange mist came through the floorboards of her living room floor, the slight green haze of the cloud making her wince in disgust. The cloud lengthened and materialized into a man, half his face rotted away to the bone, the other half recognizable to her. She couldn't help but gasp in horror, her mind screaming in denial. In the middle of the living room stood Ben, colonial style clothes draping around him in tears as his rotted, pale flesh barely clung to his body. He looked over at her with bright red eyes, hearing her gasp and the strong heartbeat that came from her fear of him. He smiled in satisfaction, and pushed away the canvases to reveal her.  
"Hello, Anastasia. Long time no see." He sneered, the long canine teeth in his mouth yellow and covered in dried blood.

**Caroline Lamoure: Right, here's more of the story like I promised! J Thanks all for your comments and reviews! My busy schedule is making me prolong the story longer than I'd like, but I'll try to write as much as I can in my free time.**


	6. Chapter 6: Attack

Anastasia looked at the figure in front of her in horror. No way. There's just no way this could actually be happening. Her ex-boyfriend happened to be an evil creature, bent on killing innocent people and slaughtering them heartlessly?! Well, the more she thought about it, the more she started believing it. He always was violent, and was very into biting and hitting. This would only explain how such a despicable man could turn out the way he did. What did this mean though? Had he gone out with her only because he had sensed that she was different? Jonathon seemed to think that the vampires were after only her for some reason, and not the other people around her.

_They want to take out the males of our species, Ana. The vampires have been rising to power recently, and growing in numbers. They want you to get rid of me._

Get rid of him? How would that get rid of him, if she would die. It didn't make any sense.

_If you die, then I have two choices, I will die with you, or turn into vampire myself to take revenge on the world who stole away my light._

Woah. Now _that's_ commitment. Such a proclamation of devotion left her mind spinning with shock. Sure she had believed he loved her, the way he looked at her showed how deep his emotions ran, but to die with her? That's a bit much, even for the hopeless romantic that Ana was.

_Do not let him touch you. If he does, I will rip his arm off and shove it down his throat. I will be there shortly, just try to distract him so he does not hurt you._

"So, Ana. What have you been up to lately, other than painting?" Ben sneered, as if he already knew about Jonathon.

"Nothing much, you know, just going out with friends, dabbling in other art medias, the usual."  
"You have been up to other things. You have been with a man." He looked at her, his eyes flashing in anger.  
"So what? Like you care." She said, and regretted the sentence. He strode toward her, raising a blood-soaked hand to hit her, but then smiled sweetly and brought it back down to his side.  
"No, I know a better way to punish you." He smiled, and held his hands out palm up in front of him. The dried skin on his palm cracked, huge wolf spiders jumping out of the skin and running toward her, fangs bared. Ana screamed in horror and closed her eyes, covering her ears to block out the sound of their scattering steps as they ran toward her. One got to her leg and started climbing under the fabric of her jeans, the hair on his legs whispering against her ankle. She screamed louder this time, the spider's fangs biting into her skin painfully. In her panic she couldn't remember if wolf spiders were poisonous or not. An explosion of wood in front of her distracted Ben, as Jonathon shot through the floorboards of the cabin and landed between the vampire and his lifemate, his fangs bared in anger.

"Do not touch her, vile one. She is with me." He hissed, his fists clenched in front of him as a warning.

"I know, hunter. She belongs to you now, but in the past she belonged to me, and the call of her flesh yet runs through my mind. We will see who she belongs to in the future." Ben sneered and turned into vapor, quickly floating from the room and into the ground at a blinding speed. Jonathon turned to Ana and wiped the spiders off her, licking the wound the arachnids had caused and looked up at her, his eyes showing confusion.  
"What did he mean by that, Ana? Is there something you have not told me?"  
Ana looked at him uneasily, and ran her hand over a scar on her arm as an act of nervousness.  
"That was Ben. A long time ago we had gone out, but I hadn't known what he was. During the relationship he… wanted to do things. I wasn't ready for it, and when I said so, he got very violent and started hitting me. I finally got tired of being hurt, so I ran off. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, Jonathon. I didn't know he was truly evil." Her eyes welled with tears and she looked down to hide her sorrow, refusing to cry.

"Do not fret, little one. I know you meant no harm. He is a despicable creature who deserves to die, and even more so for hurting you." He said, and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her closer to him in a comforting embrace.  
"You are afraid of spiders, right? Wolf spiders are very scary, but not poisonous. There is no need to worry."  
Ana nodded silently, but kept looking down at the ground.  
"You wrecked my floor." She said, her voice wavering from shock at finding out such horrible news that Ben was a horribly evil creature, and that he was out to get her. Jonathon leaned back and looked and her, sighing softly.  
"I will fix your floor. I was in a hurry to get to you, so I didn't use the door." He grinned, and sighed again when she made no reaction. "What is wrong, Anastasia? You are too quiet."  
"I just can't believe Ben is a…" She trailed off and bit her lip, trying her hardest not to let a tear run down her cheek.  
"I cannot say that he is not, and he looks to be an old vampire by the looks of it. He was probably after you because you have your premonitions, and so are able to be a Carpathian mate. He was trying to keep you for himself so that another Carpathian would die because I would not have found you in time." He paused for a minute, and put a palm to cup her face gently. "But I did find you, thanks to your strength and the courage you had to run from him. It is very hard to run from a vampire, and stay hidden."

She nodded, and looked up at him, her eyes red from strain. "He never bit me though, so I suppose that's good."  
"Yes, that is good. I think that if he had tried to you would have chopped of a part of his body he holds dear." Jonathon chuckled, trying to lighten her mood. He hated to see her so sad, it made his heart twist uncomfortably inside his chest. Ana smiled despite herself and shook her head.  
"I don't know what to do now. Everything's falling apart around me." She said, and clung to him, not wanting him to leave again.  
"You cannot stay here alone tonight. I will not let you be alone. We have two options. I will sleep in the ground beneath your house, or you may come with me to where my sister and I sleep. I have a bed there that you can rest on." He said, looking at her anxiously. He wanted to get her out of the house in case Ben decided to rear his ugly head again.

"Alright, we'll go to your house. I just hope Stephan doesn't come to find me gone and the floor torn up. He'd think I had been attacked."  
"You were, sweet. You have no need to fear anything while I'm around though, I'll protect you from even the worst dangers." He kissed her forehead softly and tugged her to her feet, wrapping an arm around her waist as he guided her out the door of the cabin. He leapt into the air, carrying Anastasia with him, the air flying in her face, making her hair whip around her shoulders as they shot through the sky, north to the cave.  
"All will be well. You have no need to fear falling." He smiled down to her as she clung desperately too him, seeing the ground get further and further away. She nodded and relaxed a little in his grip, savoring the feeling of the wind in her face. Jonathon smiled in enjoyment, remembering for the first time in centuries the first flight he had done as a boy, and how he had enjoyed it as much as she is now. Warmth flooded through him as new emotions swamped him, the rush of blood through him making him do a barrel roll in air to excite her more. She squealed in happiness and put her hands out, pretending to fly through the night air. They finally landed at the cave's entrance, and Jonathon called out inside with a wolf's howl before walking inside, letting Carlotta know it was him that was entering. They had made a system of mental calls in case someone was listening to their thoughts.

Jonathon set Ana softly on the ground, scanning the area for danger before finally relaxing. He looked back to Ana, seeing an expression of unrest.  
"Do not worry, you are safe here. Not only am I here, but my older sister will sense danger and protect you if the need arises." He hugged her one last time before turning to the area that Carlotta slept in, waiting for her to rise as the sun set. Ana found a small cot at the back of the cave and laid down in it, absolutely exhausted from a rough day of events. She quickly fell asleep as Jonathon's sister walked next to him, cleaning herself of dirt.  
"What happened? Why is she here instead of in her home?"  
"Things are worse than I percieved. A vampire has been tracking her down for a long time now, and nearly killed her tonight." He said, his throat constricting at the thought of how close she had come to death. "I do not think I will be able to forgive myself for quite some time for not being there for her."  
"You're too hard on yourself, Jon. You had to sleep to keep your strength up. It's not like you have to watch her every minute of every day. Please don't turn into one of those obsessive males who want to hold their mate in a tower for protection. I have a feeling Anastasia would not approve of that idea."

"No, she would not." Jonathon chuckled at the idea of turning Ana into a repunzel. It appealed to him in some ways, in other ways he knew she would hate him for it.

"I think she's dreaming." Carlotta said, looking toward Ana with interest.  
"Why do you say that?"  
"I feel a sort of energy coming from her."

"Strange, I feel nothing." Jonathon said, raising an eyebrow.  
"That is odd. Perhaps it's a dream about me." Carlotta grinned sheepishly, and walked further into the cave so that she was beside Ana's bed.

Ana opened her eyes, her irises turning from a pale purple back to their normal blue. She looked up at Carlotta and smiled broadly. "I need paint and a canvas as quickly as I can get them." She said, looking toward Jonathon who chuckled, nodded and walked out of the cave to get supplies from her cabin.

**A new chapter:D Sorry it took so long to get this one up :( I'm especially busy lately I'll try to get the next one up ASAP thanks for all the faves and comments!**


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